Boat earns second derby win in four months

Big Kahuna scores again!

Troy Moe, fishing the Everett Blackmouth Derby on Saturday with friends Larry and Lance Husby aboard the Husby clan’s 24-foot North River, Big Kahuna, took home $3,000 for a beautiful chinook of 17.5 pounds (cleaned weight). This after Lance Husby nailed the initial e

dition of the Resurrection Derby, out of Friday Harbor, in December.

The boat’s on a roll, and Husby is likely to draw a crowd of major proportions his next time out.

Moe caught the derby winner on whole herring in 140 feet of water off North Bluff, north of Holmes Harbor, in Marine Area 8-1, according to Dick Kikuchi of the sponsoring Everett Steelhead and Salmon Club.

The second- and third-place fish were both caught in the same boat, at Useless Bay, by Trevor Gautreaux (13.4 pounds cleaned) and Hans Aarhus (12.8 pounds cleaned), respectively. Gautreaux won $1,500 and Aarhus $500. James Lee took fourth and $250, at 11.8 pounds, and Ralph Thomas won a pot puller for his fifth-place chinook of 10.6 pounds.

Pleasant but windy weather held down the range of fishing possibilities for the derby and that, paired with what has been a slow season in local waters, resulted in a relatively disappointing weigh-in of 14 fish.

ALASKA HALIBUT LIMIT CUT

Local fishermen who like to fly to Sitka, Alaska, each year for a combo salmon/halibut charter trip will probably still do so, but the boxes of fillets they lug home most likely will weigh a little less. The Southeast Alaska Guides Organization (SEAGO) is fighting proposed International Pacific Halibut Commission regulations calling for a single halibut per charter customer (from two fish, any size, in recent years), with a maximum length of 37 inches. That would be a fish of about 20 to 23 pounds. The regulation would apply only to charter fishermen and only in southeast Alaska.

SEAGO is trying to have the maximum length changed to 42 inches, according to organization president Tom Ohaus, an ex-Seattle resident and Sitka charter owner, and the issue most likely will be resolved within a couple of weeks.

“Certainly no later than May 1,” Ohaus said, “because people start fishing halibut about then.”

So what percentage of Sitka charter customers will balk if they can’t bring back their accustomed poundage of halibut? Ohaus wouldn’t guess.

“This certainly won’t be lost on people who keep track of what halibut costs at the local market,” he said, “particularly since there are two-fish alternatives such as Homer and others. It’s going to be pretty harsh on a lot of (charter) operators and I expect the drop in trade will exceed the profit margin for many.”

Mike Chamberlain, owner of Ted’s Sport Center in Lynnwood and an avid angler acquainted with the popular Sitka fishery, said he thinks the “lion’s share” of regulars will think seriously about the change in halibut limits when planning a spring or summer Alaska trip.

“Most guys want a quality experience,” Chamberlain said, “but they also want to bring back a couple of boxes of fish.”

DERBY

The small and friendly Stanwood Hotel Saloon Salmon Derby is coming up April 2-3 in Marine Areas 8-1 and 8-2. The entry fee is $60 and the cash payouts are 45 percent of total entry fees for first place, 25 percent for second, 15 percent for third and 5 percent for fourth. Tickets are available at the Stanwood Hotel Saloon, 26926 102nd Ave. N.W.; John’s Sporting Goods; J.T. Buck; Camano Plaza; and Camano Marine.

For more information, call the saloon at 360-629-2888.

SPRINGERS

Columbia River spring chinook fishing has not lived up to expectations this season, but with time running out in the Vancouver area, now’s the best fishing we’re probably going to get.

State checks last week and over the weekend showed much higher fishing pressure in the lower river, but even lower catch rates than the previous week. The sample last week showed 2,656 anglers with 116 chinook and five steelhead. Boat fishermen averaged a king either kept or released for every 19.4 rods, almost all the catch above the mouth of the Lewis.

Indications are that the catch rate has picked up at least a little for knowledgeable anglers since the end of the week. Jim and Carl Rienstra of the Everett Steelhead and Salmon Club, fishing with Trevor Storlie, limited the boat Tuesday, with a pair of 22-pounders and a pair in the 19-pound range.

LOCAL BLACKMOUTH

Fair reports from the Strait, where 12 fishermen checked Sunday at Olson’s Resort in Sekiu had four chinook.

There are fish to be had in the San Juan Islands, according to Anthon Steen at Holiday Sports in Burlington, but windy weather has kept most anglers on the beach. Sunshine on Saturday pulled folks out of the woodwork, however, and 53 fishermen at the Washington Park ramp west of Anacortes were checked with eight chinook.

Checks at the Port of Everett ramp on Saturday (derby day), tallied nine fish for 170 anglers.

KOKANEE SEMINAR

A free Kokanee Seminar is scheduled for 10 a.m. on April 2 at Greg’s Custom Fishing Rods in Lake Stevens, featuring John Thomas of Rotten Chum Guide Service. Space is limited, so call 425-335-1391 to reserve a spot. The shop is located at 12405 20th St. N.E.